The Devil Returns
by laugh4life
Summary: Set after 3X1, it portrays Hanna and Mona's feelings as they talk. R&R please! Rated T just in case!


**Season three premiere: A-mazing, spectAculAr, outstAnding. This story is based off of that episode (3X1) and Hanna's visit with Mona at the mental institution.** **I hope you like it (: I write purely for pleasure, and none of the characters are mine; I take no credit except for the original events created in this one-shot (that could potentially turn into a story). Enjoy!**

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The malicious smile that crept across her face was unnerving, yet oddly genuine. Her sweet chocolate brown eyes twinkled with sudden light, and her usually pale, still face transformed. Suddenly she wasn't that doll that Hanna was attempting to bring to life anymore; she was already living. Her lips curved into a grin that could wake the dead by just the sight. Her stringy yet shining brunette hair gleamed in the dreary light from the window.

Hanna's heart jumped at the prospect of seeing her friend come to life once again.

Is it possible that this girl, sitting there in rags before her, was truly still her friend? Or was it merely the only term that Hanna could come up with to describe her? How else would she portray the girl that she depended so heavily on, yet who betrayed her all this time? Friend. Yes, that was what she was, whether Hanna liked it or not. And forever more she would be her friend, no matter how terrible a crime she committed.

"Hanna," She rasped.

Shivers ran up and down Hanna's arms, and it took all of her might not to show her disgust. It was too much progress to throw away with a simple shiver.

All summer, all five months since Mona was arrested and brought into the station, Hanna had visited this asylum. This grungy, dark place that housed too many of the state's psychos was the place where Hanna's best friend had been locked up. With too much free time on her hands, Hanna had been forced to wonder.

Hanna had too much time to wonder too many things; thoughts raced through her mind and she could barely make sense of them. She needed to talk, to vent, and she needed someone to truly hear her.

Why did Mona do it? It couldn't have been for revenge; their immediate transformation and sudden dictatorship of the school halls was part of their revenge to Alison. Everyone used to despise the way she would stalk down the halls, commenting cruelly on others' appearances or rumors that she heard. As Hanna used to follow Ali around the halls, she would imagine what it would be like to walk in her friend's footsteps and be the "it" girl, not just her bodyguard.

And Mona wanted revenge for the longest time, but like Hanna thought, it seemed to everyone that it was through their sudden takeover. She looked more fabulous than ever, and strutted so confidently that no one mistook her happiness for sweet revenge; it was so obvious. All her life, Ali looked down upon Mona, and now that she was at the top it was obvious that that was where she liked it, and would not give it up for the world. Mona seemed content, there at the top of the high school pyramid, and no one challenged that.

Until now.

This was too far. Had Mona not taken an extra step toward pure revenge, no one would have guessed that she was crazy. She had a calm mien and kept it together well. She was generally shallow, but deep when making an attempt to be. She was Mona; Hanna's best friend, Rosewood's new "it" girl, and the school's fashionable dictator.

Although they had a rocky start as friends, Hanna and Mona automatically clicked. Hanna always knew what Mona was thinking and vice versa. They studied fashion together vigorously; shopped until they dropped - literally; and talked until their voices rubbed raw. They were always by each others sides, and the more they grew to come to know each other, the more they realized how great the other was. Hanna began to depend on Mona for a lot more than she ever realized. Mona was Hanna's listener when she needed to vent; she was her shoulder to cry on about Sean when they broke up; Mona was there even when she knew Hanna was keeping secrets from her.

So when Mona was locked up, Hanna's heart melted, like any friend's would. She couldn't take it; she had no one to go to, no one to talk to. She tried to tell Spencer about the different fashion trends, but Spencer's mind kept wandering; she couldn't pay attention. Next, she tried to tell Aria about her boy troubles with Caleb, but Aria's mind was stuck on Ezra, and she kept relating everything back to them. It was excruciatingly annoying. Finally, she tried talking to Emily, but with Maya gone, it was too difficult for Em to talk about anything; all she did was stare blankly into space and absorb the words without really hearing them. It wasn't the same at all.

And so she was left with no choice. Hanna wasn't one to keep grudges, and so she went off without a worry to visit her friend. Of course, she took a few precautions, like keeping pepper spray in her purse and wearing one inch heals instead of four, just in case she needed to run.

Now Hanna was well aware that her friend had tried, almost successfully, to kill her not five months before. Yet off she went to visit her. The first visit was incredibly awkward; Hanna didn't know how to act or what to say. She left after five minutes. Gradually the visits lengthened as time went by and she grew used to Mona's unmoving state of timelessness. She told her all that was happening; updated her on the latest trends and her thoughts. Though she wished for Mona's eager responses, none came except the soft sighs of the wind outside her small window.

"Mona," Hanna replied, excited that her friend was talking again after five months of absolute silence. She grinned, "I- The doctors are saying that my coming here has helped you a little. Do you think so?"

Hanna wrung her hands impatiently. Her legs were shaking, and her heart beat quicker than a hummingbird's wings. She couldn't believe that Mona had actually respond this time. She said Hanna's name, and looked in her direction. That was progress, wasn't it? At least she hadn't stared right through her like every other time.

Mona's eyes blinked at her. They appeared sleepy, yet behind that masquerade of tiredness was a wild alertness that put Hanna on edge. Mona drawled, "What do you want?"

At this, Hanna was taken aback. She had no idea how to respond. What did she want? Why was she there? It is true that she never thought it through. Why did Hanna come to this insane asylum, a dangerous and risky place, when she could be safer in Rosewood?

She puzzled on this for a minute, and the air was still as Mona waited for Hanna's answer. The longer Hanna's response took, the more Mona's eyes became glassy and unblinking. Finally, Hanna stuttered out something for fear that her friend wouldn't react again.

"I- I missed you."

A dry laugh escaped the prisoner's mouth. A complimenting, wry smile appeared on her lips and her eyes glinted as she said, "Missed me? I'm flattered; Now go away."

Once again Hanna was speechless. How could she respond? Was Mona just being her teasing self or did she truly not want her there? And why was she acting so rudely? Anger rose up from deep within Hanna's soul. How dare her friend talk to her like this! Even though she was in a mental institution, it still did not permit her to throw away every ounce of politeness. No, Hanna would not put up with it.

"Mona, _why_? Why would you do this to me? To us? I thought you were past Alison. Why would you do this to all of us?" Hanna spat, fully enraged and ablaze with her own emotions.

The brown cat eyes blinked lazily at her, surveying her without really taking it in. Mona could vaguely hear Hanna's ranting, but most of it flew over her head. Her mind was in another dimension; a dimension in which Alison was alive and Mona had the ability to torture her relentlessly.

In her mind, Mona strolled down an alley with Hanna at her side, Alison calling after them.

_"Wait up! Hey, Hanna, Mona! Wait up!"_

_Giggles erupted from the two girls as they decided to ignore Ali's struggles to stop them and talk. They despised her; she was such a loser. With her limp two pigtails on either side of her face, clumpy and clingy winter sweater and her unflattering glasses, Ali was the outcast in the perfect town. No, they didn't want to hang out with her. Mona and Hanna laughed and laughed at her as they rounded the corner, forcing her to stop following them. What a perfect scerio._

"Mona?" Hanna's voice intruded. Mona snapped back to attention, and her eyes shone with fierce defiance as she stared at her.

As her mind slowly shifted to reality, her senses sharpened and she noticed Hanna's hand resting on her knee. She slapped it off viciously, "Don't touch me!" She cried.

"I just want to know why," Hanna plead.

"She deserved it," Mona murmured, mostly to herself.

"Deserved what?"

A whisper came after a minute of silence, "Death." Then Mona continued, "_You_ deserved it."

Hanna's eyes blurred with unshod tears. Her throat was clogged and thick as she attempted to speak. How could Mona say such things? It was utterly rude. Tears slipped slowly down Hanna's cheeks, making them wet with sadness.

All she could think as she sat there was that they never did anything to deserve all that Mona has done, except of course maybe witness Alison's cruel actions. They never deserved it.

As Hanna gathered her purse about her to leave, in a tremendously agitated state, she said, "_You_ deserve to rot in hell."

And with that she left. As the door shut behind her, all that Mona could hear was the dull clicks of Hanna's heels as she departed.

With a sly, sick smile, Mona thought, _This is only the beginning. Alison Dilaurentis, I am not through with you and your witches quite yet. Peace shall never reach you. Just you wait._

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**Bad ending, I know. Tell me how you liked it, though? **

**Reviews please? (:_  
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